Amol Mazumdar scored an unbeaten 119 as Mumbai took a huge 219-run first innings lead to tighten its grip on the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu on the third day at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

At stumps, skipper Sairaj Bahutule was unbeaten on 64 with Mazumdar as the visitors ended the day at 513 for five, giving no respite to the Tamil Nadu bowlers who tasted limited success in the first two sessions on a flat track.

Mazumdar, who scored his 13th Ranji century, was involved in two big partnerships, adding 131 runs with Bahutule for the unbroken sixth wicket and 113 runs with Vinod Kambli (55) for the fourth wicket.

The hosts, who allowed Mumbai to pile up 236 for no loss yesterday, seemed to have got back into the match after taking three quick wickets, that of openers Wasim Jaffer (133-272b, 21x4) and Vinayak Mane (106-243b, 14x4) and Bhavin Thakkar (9) in the first hour of the day and later removing Kambli and Manoj Joglekar (0) in the post-lunch session.

But, Mazumdar, who reached his second hundred of the season, facing 196 balls in 314 minutes, and Bahutule showed great determination and went after the bowlers, particularly in the last session, scoring 126 runs off just 31 overs, to keep their team on course for a 36th Ranji title.

While Tamil Nadu skipper S Suresh (2 for 67) provided the first breakthrough, removing Jaffer and Mane, part-time spinner S Badrinath (2 for 51) took the wickets of Kambli and Joglekar.

Scoreboard

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 294

Mumbai (1st innings): overnight 236 for no loss
Vinayak Mane c Karthik b Suresh 106
Wasim Jaffer c and b Suresh 133
Bhavin Thakkar lbw Ganapathy 9
Amol Mazumdar batting 119
Vinod Kambli c M R Srinivas b Badrinath 55
Manoj Joglekar C Karthik b Badrinath 0
Sairaj Bahutule batting 64

Extras: (b-6, lb-3, w-1, nb-17) 27

Total: (for 5 wkts, 170 overs) 513

Fall of wickets: 1-243, 2-257, 3-266, 4-379, 5-382

Bowling: Ganapathy 27-2-111-1, Srinivas 22-9-61-0, Ramkumar 35-7-103-0, Suresh 22-4-67-2, Sivaramakrishnan 34-5-92-0, Sriram 11-2-17-0, Badrinath 17-2-51-2, Badani 2-0-2-0.